Summary
Warning: contains spoilers forStar Trek#21!
The Tholians are one of theStar Trekfranchise’s most mysterious aliens, and now the surrounding lore has deepened, as they are given a direct connection to the gods. TheTholians have only made a handful of on-screen appearances, andStar Trek#21 muddies the waters around these enigmatic aliens even further,revealing one of them sits on the council of gods living in the Pleroma.
Star Trek#21 is written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Megan Levens. After entering the Pleroma, Captain Sisko is met by an assembly of gods, including Trelane, Charlie Evans and the Guardian of Forever. A Tholian sits on the council too. It is revealed to be “Bright Eyes,” the Tholian who debuted duringStar Trek: Year Five,which chronicled the events of the last year of Kirk’s mission. Nearly a century later, Bright Eyes is now a god-like being.
The Tholians Are a Vastly UnderratedStar TrekRace
The Tholians Are Even More Alien Than the Klingons or the Romulans
The originalStar Trekseries introduced a number of hostile aliens, including the Klingons, the Romulans, and the Tholians. Debuting during the show’s third season, the decidedly alienTholians captured the attention of fans. The Tholians were name checked several times throughout the franchise before returning inStar Trek: Enterprise’ssecond season. This appearance made them even more mysterious, giving them links to the Temporal Cold War story. Alater appearance in the show’s fourth season cleared up nothing about the Tholians, despite actually showing one up-close for the first time.
From their first appearance in “The Tholian Web” onward,Star Trekhas made it clear the Tholians are not only mysterious, but powerful as well.
From their first appearance in “The Tholian Web” onward,Star Trekhas made it clear the Tholians are not only mysterious, but powerful as well. Their ships are capable of spinning energy webs around other vessels, creating a hard to escape trap. The Tholian language continues to give the Federation’s Universal Translator a fit, centuries after first contact. Finally, giving the Tholians some connection to the Temporal Cold War heightened the mystery. Their exact role in the conflict was never revealed: they could have been pawns like Jonathan Archer, but the implication was they were more than bit players.
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The Tholians Have Something Every OtherStar TrekRace Has–Even Humans
Why Do The Tholians Have a Direct Link to the Gods?
Star Trek#21 deepens the mystery of the Tholians. The text piece, made to resemble a Starfleet briefing, reveals Bright Eyes represents the Tholian Assembly. This is the name the Tholians have given themselves, and if they have a representative on the council of gods in the Pleroma, this means they are much more powerful than fans first thought. Even thoughStar Trekhas not depicted the Tholians as god-like beings,these enigmatic aliens have at least a direct connection to the gods, something other hostile races such as the Klingons and the Borg lack.
